Gen Z: A Report on the Western Church

This past semester in his second year at university, my son was tasked with writing a paper about a new community that he envisioned, one that held the characteristics and values of the God of the Bible. This new community could have been in any industry or sector - from a new coffee shop, to a community of musicians, to a group of business leaders. Anything was fair game. And his choice? A critical look at the western church, particularly that of the United States.

His critiques of the western church sadden me. But his vision for something new for the church fascinate and inspire me. And I know that he isn’t alone in these thoughts and feelings. I know that despite our stereotypes of younger generations, Gen Z and Gen Alpha are truly craving authenticity, deep worship, fellowship, and prayer. It is time to ask if church as we know it, and have been doing it, really is answering these deep Christ-like cravings; not just for younger generations, but for all of us.

Enjoy his paper!

Is the modern, western church what Jesus had in mind for us? Did we take something that was meant for community and love and twist it into another form of simple entertainment? It’s time to take a serious look at what church looks like today and ask some important questions about what church is supposed to be. It’s time for a change, not just in how we run a Sunday service, but in how we act throughout the whole week. It’s time to look at what church was when it was first recorded in Acts and go back to the experience that God intended a church to be. What needs to change?

The early church looked very different from the church we see today. Acts 2 goes into detail about the fellowship of the believers and what that looked like on a weekly basis.  Acts 2:42-47 says, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had a need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” There is so much goodness and love in these verses that help set the perfect example of what a church should look like. From this passage, we can draw basic values that a church should be built on and focus on daily. These values are Prayer, Worship, Generosity, Fellowship, Teaching of the Word, Evangelism, and Unity.

 In the early church, they relied on the Holy Spirit daily. They didn’t worry about planning or making sure that everything was perfect when it was time to meet. They came as they were and had fellowship together, worshiped together, had conversations that deepened their faith and ultimately grew as a family in God. They prayed together daily and met with each other several times a week. Each person was fully known and cared for. Worship was something that was Spirit-led, natural and done with everything they had. I can imagine dancing and kneeling, crying out and coming together to give thanks through words, prayers, and songs. They gave generously, and it wasn’t a built-in, automatic contribution. The giving was done to fulfill a genuine need, and they used it to serve the will of the spirit, not their own will. Their meetings were conversations together and with the Word, sharing experiences and points of view that built deeper understanding of scripture. God brought people to them and increased their numbers through His power and through His people fully evangelizing and investing in new Christians. They relied fully on God and trusted Him to fulfill every need. They were fully together, one family under the name, Jesus Christ.

The modern church in America is very different from the church back then. Today, I would say that most churches are a cheap imitation of the early church. The church is more divided than it has ever been. So many people are judged because they are Catholic, Protestant, Baptist, etc. It’s sad frankly, and it is nothing like the united early church that was set up for community and fellowship. People look at churches as attractions. They church shop to see which church has the best music, most famous pastors, best kids' programs, etc. People in the church have forgotten what true evangelism looks like. Modern churches are so reliant on making sure they have the best of everything, they have forgotten how to evangelize to people searching for something real and deeper. Instead, we trust in what we can control over God’s power to bring in new people. In the early church, the power of Jesus was attractive and that’s what grew the church so rapidly and converted many people. We’re so focused on making sure that the church looks as appealing as it can, that we have truly lost what it means to invest in people, and let the Word of God and the actions of the church draw them in.

What does church look like for those that regularly attend? We go to church for an hour every Sunday to be entertained. We sit in chairs to listen and watch people on a stage. We listen to sermons from the same pastor or two every week. Ultimately, this ends up meaning that these pastors are put on a pedestal, and this is where so many churches and Christian leaders have given in to greed and perfectionism. We check “The God” box for one hour every Sunday, and then for so many Christians, it is back to our everyday lives, completely forgetting about the people and the fellowship you have for this hour. We have shallow worship. People are so concerned about their reputations that they feel embarrassed to fully commit to worshiping God. So many of us stand in place, hands in pockets, mumbling the words and enjoying the show. Our prayers are done for us. We rely on the pastor to pray, and don’t have the healthy conversation with God that prayer was meant to be. The teaching of the Word is often so one-sided. We are preached to for thirty minutes and never have the time to ask questions, dive deeper and let the Spirit guide us in study. Our contributions are all done through apps, set up so that we have weekly contributions, giving what we want instead of giving generously to the needs of followers. As a church is being started, it is led by the Spirit, relying on God’s power to provide, just as the early church did. After a church grows, it turns into a business and a production. There are churches out there that are truly trying to implement these principles the early church lived by, but ultimately, we are stuck living out the lackluster ways that church has been done for the past couple hundred years. How does this change? What needs to happen for the church to realize what it was meant to be?

What does it look like to build a new church? Building a new church means full reliance on God. We start in houses, just as the early church did. We need a community that is willing to open their homes to everyone. A community that is so passionate, full of love, and full of the Spirit, that church becomes a true family, a group of people that anyone would want to be around. A group that loves to meet with each other more than just once a week, to simply eat together, talk through life, and dive deeper into each other's lives. Sundays would look very different. Instead of planning each and every service down to the exact minute, a service would be completely Spirit led. Everyone shows up expecting God to lead them, not a person. No more stages or pedestals. Instead, it should be a family coming together in a round to worship. The music would be Spirit led too, whatever someone has on their hearts to play. It’s a space where anyone can come and use their talents for the worship of the Lord. There would be space to dance, kneel, cry out, group together and pray. It would be a place of worship where everyone could feel completely free to worship, regardless of how people look at them, because at the end of the day, we would be worshipping with family. Everyone is simply to come as they are, no expectations. Everyone would be welcome, regardless of race, gender, political point of view, or anything else that divides people in the modern world.

Going through the message wouldn’t simply be a sermon for thirty minutes from one person every week. A group of elders would take turns sharing what God has put on their heart and going through the Word of God. This way, no one man or women may be elevated above the rest. And more than just the elders, others could share what God has been doing in their life, in the moment of each service. Members of the body could openly express their experiences and knowledge. The Bible could be used as a conduit for the Spirit to enter the room and fill the people. Whatever the Spirit has in store for that service, there would be a space for that to occur. Church could become a conversation, an interaction between all the people there and with God. Having church in this way, the Spirit has complete control over the moment. Random songs of worship could break out, prophecies could be spoken, prayers of healing could be prayed in the moment. Church could be a space where you aren’t expected to sit in silence and listen but instead engage and participate and act on what the spirit has been putting in your heart.

Even more than just Sundays, this needs to be a weekly occurrence, a daily occurrence. Church wouldn’t be once a week thing; it would be a family and a lifestyle. Different groups of the same body come together throughout the week to pray for each other, support each other, eat together, and grow together. Whenever someone in the church has a need, they can feel completely secure, knowing that the generosity of their church family will cover their every need, and that God will provide. The church wouldn’t be appealing because of how it looks or what we as people have to offer, but because of what God is doing through the church, and the power that He is demonstrating in that place. Instead of focusing on making everything nice, the church could focus on the people. This would be true evangelizing. It would be taking the time to invest in new people, share yourself and your possessions, invite new people into your homes and share a meal together. People all over will be drawn to this kindness. People would be excited to come to church because they will want to know how to live like this. Everyone would be welcome, and everyone would be united in Jesus. As the church grows, nothing has to change except the amount of people that are praising God and having fellowship together. I can see a huge room, filled with believers worshiping in different circles, sharing prayers and encouragement in other circles, and yet more people sharing the word and gaining wisdom and knowledge in other circles. And yet, the body would be all together, free to express and receive whatever God has for them. As the church grows, instead of money going towards physical programs and nicer buildings, the money would be solely for those in need and for evangelism. Church would be a place that could fit whatever need people are searching for. It would be a growing body of believers, serving God, living generously, and fellowshipping together daily.

The church needs a change. The description from Acts of the early church describes a lifestyle fully dedicated to God and to each other. Today’s world has so many distractions and Satan is using those to pull believers away from the church and from each other. It’s time to go back to the church’s roots and rediscover what a united family in Jesus looks like. It’s time to build a congregation that can used by God to reach more people than ever before. It’s time to build a congregation that is so passionate and on fire for God that no distractions can tune them out. And in this way, Jesus will touch so many lives throughout the world. Let's build a new church.

Kadyn Fleischmann, December 2024